MAYOR’S SHOW GOES DIGITAL

Thursday

A different kind of Eugene “Mayor’s Art Show” opens tonight at the Hult Center’s Jacobs Gallery, followed by a different kind of “Salon des Refusés” a few blocks away at the New Zone Gallery.

For the first time, the three-member mayor’s show jury has selected the annual exhibit of work by local artists by looking at digital images on a computer screen rather than by examining the artworks themselves.

That seemingly small change has had a profound effect on both exhibits, which are among the most popular visual art shows of the year in Eugene.

First off — though perhaps it’s also a result of the faltering economy — the number of entries in the official mayor’s show is down substantially from previous years.

“I’m sure that is because the entries had to be digital this time,” said juror Nancy Pobanz, a Eugene fiber artist. “I’ve talked to friends of mine who submit every year. They were taken totally off guard. I really think the requirements for digital submission were a big hurdle for a lot of people.”

Only 269 works were submitted for this year’s show. Last year, when the jury looked at actual artworks and no digital photography was required, 360 artists submitted. In 2008, 426 artists brought their work in for jurying, 425 the year before and 449 in 2006.

The jury chose 49 works for this year’s show.

The Jacobs Gallery, which runs the mayor’s show, blamed the jurying change on a shift to an earlier date for this year’s Eugene Celebration; the mayor’s show traditionally opens the night before the celebration begins downtown.

But it’s clear that the digital jurying also saved time, effort, money and aggravation. The in-person jurying done in the past stretched over several days — the jury itself spent two days looking at the works — and it involved the work of many volunteers and paid staffers.

The hundreds of submitted works had to be checked in, arranged on long tables in a rehearsal studio at the Hult, examined by the jury, and the rejects returned to their artists.

The aggravation came in with returning the rejects.

Some artists, ill-humored about being turned down, would berate Jacobs volunteers and demand explanations of the jury’s decision.

And of course, even good-humored artists could find it emotionally challenging to pick up their rejected works in person at the gallery.

“There were a lot of people very hostile about being rejected,” said juror Robert Tomlinson, the new executive director of Oregon Crafted. “That’s hard on everybody.”

The digital submission requirement also probably skewed the kinds of art submitted for this year’s show.

Photography and computer art, which have been on the rise in recent years anyway, naturally continue to be well represented. It’s not too difficult to submit your digital photography on a disc.

At the other extreme, though, photographing small, intricate items such as jewelry is very challenging.

Only one jewelry maker submitted work this year, despite the fact that one of the three jurors — Christine Sundt — is a well-known local jewelry maker.

That piece was rejected; there will be no jewelry at all in this year’s show.

“We didn’t have a lot of information about the artwork,” she said. “I think that may lead to a change in the application form for next year.

“We didn’t know enough about materials. We didn’t know enough about the process. That was a challenge.”

Sundt said she also had a hard time distinguishing between photography and computer art in the digital images.

A number of artists who submitted digital images did a poor job of photographing their work, the jurors said, even though the Jacobs and the New Zone teamed up to provide professional photography of artists’ work for only $10 each.

“Some could’ve used a little help,” she said.

Pobanz agreed.

“Most artists don’t know how to take good photographs of their work,” she said. “Including me, years ago. I thought I did a great job of my own photography. And then I decided to take my work to a professional, and he shot a piece that I had shot that I thought was very good. And the difference was remarkable.”

The “Salon des Refusés,” which in the past has been limited to works rejected by the mayor’s show, has been renamed the “Salon des Peuple” and will be open this year to all comers.

The salon has in the past recruited rejects from the mayor’s show as artists picked up their work at the Jacobs; a large proportion of rejected artists hung their work at the salon, making it a larger, more varied show than the mayor’s show — and a bigger opening night party.

Since everything is done digitally this year, that kind of recruiting for the salon proved to be impossible.

“We have decided to make the transition to a combination of two shows, the “Salon des Refusés” and New Zone’s popular event, the “Zone 4 All” ... into one event to allow opportunities for all local artists to exhibit their work to the community during the Eugene Celebration,” salon organizer Steve La Riccia said.

The salon still plans a big opening night party, which kicks off an hour after the mayor’s show with live music and refreshments.

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